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Chandigarh: Only 5 of 29 liquor vends allotted in fifth round of auction
The excise and taxation department in the Indian Union Territory of Chandigarh is to hold a sixth auction for unsold liquor licences after only four of 29 found takers in the fifth auction. The department will reduce the reserve price by 12% to 20% in the hope of generating interest in the 25 remaining licences. Contractors have blamed the high VAT and excise fees in Chandigarh compared with those in Punjab, and the fixed quota of 18 million liquor boxes a year, which results in a penalty for unlifted cases.

